Speciation and Evolution of the Pygmy Mice, Genus BaiomysPackard, Robert L. (Robert Lewis)
Science
Speciation and Evolution of the Pygmy Mice, Genus Baiomys
Packard, Robert L. (Robert Lewis)
Mice
_Habitat and numbers._--In Veracruz, Dalquest obtained the southern
pygmy mouse in stands of tall grass (_Spartina?_) in sandy loam soil
bordering, and in, dense vegetation; Davis (1944:394) found the species
living in dense stands of grasses and seemingly utilizing underground
burrows. Near Chilpancingo, Guerrero, rocky situations seemed to be the
preferred habitat. Davis (_loc. cit._) believed that the species has a
wide tolerance to kinds of habitats. In Morelos, Davis and Russell
(1954:75) found these mice to be abundant along rock fences separating
cultivated fields, and in arid lowlands. In Colima, Hooper (1955b:13)
obtained specimens from an open thorn forest in sparse grass and rocky
hillside bounding a stream and in litter below shrubs on the floor of a
nut-palm forest; in Michoacan, these mice were taken in cane grass,
shrubs, and mesquite near an irrigation ditch. From Guatemala, Goodwin
(1934:39, 40) records specimens from Sacapulas, a hot, dry, sandy area
where cactus and sparse grasses are present, and from La Primavera, on
the edges of pine-oak-alder forests. Felten (1958:137) has taken
_musculus_ from bushy areas in El Salvadore. In 1955, I obtained the
southern pygmy mouse 6 mi. SW Izucar de Matemores, Puebla, along a
stream in heavy grass bordered by cypress, willow, fig, bamboo, and in
rocky grazed area near sugar cane fields.
The southern pygmy mouse seems to be locally abundant in certain parts
of its geographic range, and in other parts, scarce. For example,
Dalquest (_in. litt._) recorded the pygmy mouse as common at a place 2
km. N Paraje Nuevo, 1700 feet, Veracruz, where, by means of 50 traps, he
took 14 of these mice in one night. The species was scarcer, although
the habitat seemed suitable, 3 km. N Presidio, 1500 feet, Veracruz,
where he caught only two pygmy mice in several days of trapping. Six
miles southwest of Izucar de Matemores, the pygmy mouse was the most
common rodent. I have trapped for it in Oaxaca and Veracruz in habitats
that seemed almost identical to those mentioned by Dalquest, and also
that at Izucar de Matemores, Puebla, with almost no success. The reason
for the seeming disparity in numbers at different localities having
nearly the same kind of habitat is unknown to me and bears further
investigation.
_Behavior._--Little is recorded concerning the behavior of this species.
David and Russell (_op. cit._:76) found that of small mammals _B.
musculus_ was the first to appear at night. I caught mice of this
species by hand in the afternoon in Puebla. They seemed to be active
from noon until dark. Albert Alcorn wrote in his field notes that
specimens were taken near noon at a place 9 mi. NNW Esteli, Nicaragua.
My impression is that _musculus_ is diurnal to crepuscular.
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